Internal-combustion engine.



" Patented Mar; 20, 1917.

2 SHEET$$HEET i- F. E. HORNE, JR. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPucmsoN mm OCT. 10. ms. [$19,639.

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,0 l /a w. J: rm W .mfi EE z .55 2% F W WW PW my k F. E. HORNE, 1k. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 10, 19l6- 1 ,21 9,639;-- Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

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QUNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE- FREDERICK E. mm, .13., or PI'rTsrmLn, MASSACHUSETTS.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. P t t -1m 1 I Application filed October 10, 1916. Serial No. 124,884.

To all 'wh om z't may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. Horns, Jr., a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsfield, in the county-0f Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented an. Improvement in Internal-Gombustion Engines, of. which the following description, 1n connection with the accompanying drawingsgis -a specification, like characters on the drawings representlng llke parts. "This invention relates to an lnternal combustion engine or motor of that type in which a valve in the form of.a sleeve is employed. .The; present-invention has for its objectto provide a sleeve valve of novel con-.

valve e, which in accordance with this i1r-,

struction as will be described, which is ca-' pable of fitting tightin the cylinder under all conditions of temperature so as to obtain the desired compression of the gases, which antomatically takescare of expansion and contraction without loss of compression and without sticking in the cylinder, which can be moved with a mmnnumof power and which is simple and inexpensive to construct.

To this end I employ a sleeve of any desired or' suitable metal, which is .provided with a split extended the full length of the sleeve at an angle to the axis thereof, and

preferably atan angle of about 45, and is provided with a suitable port opening or .openings for the passage of the motive fluid and gases into and out of said sleeve and into and out of the cylinder in which the split sleevey-is located. The split sleeve is arranged in the-cylinder of the engine or motor, so as' to leave one and preferably both i of its ends free to move, whereby expan ion of single cylinder engine or and contraction of the metal sl' eve is ta en care of by axial movement of t e split po tions of the sleeve without changing the diameter of the sleeve to any material extent,

any suitable motion, and in the present ins tance'I have illustrated, one-arrangement for rotatin'g' the sleeve valve,'which- -ll may P :1 The pa icul'ar features of the invention will be pointedout in the claim at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of one form motor embodying this invention.

both ends to move longitudinally oraxially Fig. 2, a cross section-on the'line 2-2, Fig.1. i

Fig. 3, a cross section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1. 1

' igsml, 5, 6 and'7, details of valve', and

Fig. 8, a horizontal section ofafourcylin-j der engine or motor to illustrate the-manner I of rotating the sleeve valves. InFig. 1 I'h'ave represented the invention as embodied'in a single cylinder engine or motor, which may be of, any suita-ble""or usual construction and comprises the cylinder a, crank case b,erank-shaftc and piston b. The cylinder a contains within it a sleeve the sleeve c0 vention is spirally divided longitudinally for its entire length, and saidsleeve -'may .*be made of cast or drawn metal and cuter-split spirally asindicated by the line f toform coiiperating inclined edges 10, 12, orsaidspirally arranged sleeve may be rolled up or otherwise made. The sleeve valve 6 is normally of larger" diameter than the inter-. nal diainetervof the cylinder, as shown in. Fig. 4, and is capable of being contracted and slipped into the cylinder to make a substa-ntially tight fit therein and have theedges 10, 12 in contact (see-Fig. 5). 'Y

-- The sleeve valve 6 i'sfurther arranged so that it is free-at one end and preferably at when expanded and-contracted, andin'the present instance, the upper end of the sleeve valve 6 is separated from the head 13 offthe cylinder by a space 14, which in practice will be of sufficient size-to permit of axial movement of one edge-10 of the sleeve e (see Fig. 6), and said sleeve at its lower end extends into the crank case b and its other edge 12 is free to expand therein.

The sleeve 6 is designed tolfit the cylinder tightly when cold and to have the edges 10, v '12, in contact, and when the sleeve is expanded under the influence of heat, the edges 10, 12, are caused to move axially in opposite 100 directions when both ends of the sleeve are free, owing to the bevel'o'r inclination of the cut or split, for-,as the beveled or'inclined contactingedges 10, 12, are forced against each other by the expansion of the metal in the sleeve, thelopposing inclined surfaces or edges 10, 12, will be moved in opposite directions and axially or lengthwise with reladiameter under. all conditionsolf heat and.. cold, and as a result a tightfit is obtained between the cylinder andthe sleeve valve,

whereby the desired compression of the gases within the cylinder is-obtained' to insure proper operation of the engine.

25 is'driven byagear. 30'on' shaft 31 having thereon. a bevel gear 32, which is driven by a bevel gear 33 on a' shaft 34 driven from the crankshaft-c by gears 35, 36, or otherwise.

der engine or motor. in which thegears 25 onthe sleeve valves of the cylinders are in mesh with one another, so that the sleeve ..'lhis relation between the sleeve valve and cylinder is maintained irrespective of the condition of the cylinder itself, for when the cylinder is cold and the sleeve valve 6 hot,

the axial movement of the sleeve valve is such as to maintain the tight or substantially tight fit without sticking oi the sleeve valve, and when the'cylinder is warm ior hot, the axial movement of'the sleeve maintains the same tight or substantially tight with relation to the cylinder.-

The sleeve valve 0 is provided with one or more ports according to the' typeof engine or motorwith which it is used.

In the present instance I have lllustrated the sleeve valve as used in whatis known.- as an L head motor, in which the inlet-port 20 and the exhaust per-Q21 in the cylinder a are located on the same sideand prox imity to one another.

In this case, the-sleeve valve e provided with a single port 22, which cooperates with both ports 20, 21, in the cylinder, but-1t 1S not desired to limit the invention in this respect, as the sleeve valve 6 may be provided with'any desired number of ports to coiiperate with the ports. in the cylinder.

valve of cylinder No. 1 drives the sleeve valve of'cylinder No. 2, and the sleeve valve of N o. 2 drives the sleeve valve of No. 3 and the sleeve valve ofNo. 3 drives the sleeve valve of No.- 4. While -I have herein shown one method of rotating thesleeve valve, which I may pre fer, it is not desired to limit the invention in this respect. i I

I have herein shown the invention as em bodied in a sleeve 'va-lve, which is rotated, but it is not desired to limit the invention in this respect, as the sleeve valvemay be given anyfoth'er desired motion.

So alsoI have illustrated the joint in the split sleeve in Figs. 1v to 6, as a butt joint,

sired kind, and inFig. 7, I have represented a locked oint..

qThe driving mechanis1n for the sleeve valve e isproperly timed so as to closethe exhaust port 21 when the inlet port 20 is open, andas shown in Fig. 2, the sleeve valve In Fig. 8,I have represented a four c'yl i i-.

e is revolving in the direction of arrow 40.

and is about to open the inlet port 20,; which takes place onthe suction stroke of a four The port or ports 22 in: the sleeve valve may be made on opposite sides of the split or as shown in the present instance, the port maybe formed withonehalf in each edge 10, 12, and arranged to arm a full port as clearly shown in Figs. 4, '5 and 6.

V In Fig; 5, the edges 10,"'-;:1 '2,are shown in what may be considered their normal position withinthe cylinder, Fig. 6-, the

edges 10, 12, are representdas having been moved axially'in opposite 'directions under the influence of heat.

By reference to Figs. 5 and 6, it will be observed .that the diameter of the sleeve valve in its heated condition represented in Fig. 6 is the same as that of the sleeve valve in'its normal condition represented in Fig. 5.

In the present instance, the sleeve valve is shown as having a rotary motion, which may be imparted to it fromthe crankshaft 0.;

To this end, the rotary sleeve valve 6 has "fastened to it externallynear its lower end a ring 24, which rests on and 1s adj ustably fas- ,tened to a gear 25,- supported on housings ore segments of sleeves 26, which are stationary and are represented as fastened tobrackets 27 attached to the crank casing b. The gear split portion of cycle engine or motor. When the piston moves upward to compress the charge, the

loo

sleevecloses both ports20, 21; which remain closed when the charge is'ignited by thespark from the spark plug 11 and on the exhaust stroke of the piston, the 'exhaust port 21 is opened. When the piston is at the end of its compression stroke, the

re sleeve is removed from the ports 20, 21, and a solid portion of the sleeve coversthe same.

. Thesleeve valve e may beprovided on its exterior surface with-oil grooves 42 if desiredor. required. From the above description, it will be seen that by providing the sleeve valve with a split, which extends for the length of the sleeve at an angle to the axis of saidsleeve, so as to form cooperating inclined contactmg edges, and arranging said sleeve valve within the cylinder so as to leave one end free to move, provision is made for taking care of the expansion and contraction of the sleeve of valve by, axial movement of said sleeve, and as a result, the sleeve valvefandthe cylinder may be made of the: same ,or difl'erent kinds of metal, as the coetficient of expansion of the metal or metals may be disregarded. Y

It will also he observed, that the sleeve valve fits the cylinder sufiiciently tight under all conditions so as to obtain the desired compression of the gases.

So also sticking of the sleeve valve under excessive heat is also avoided. i

It is preferred to leave the opposite ends of the sleeve valve tree to move axially, but

it is not desired to limit the invention in this respechas good results would he obtained so long as one end of the sleeveis free to move axially.

( laim:

In an internal combustion motor, in combination, a ported-cylinder, a sleeve valve having a port cooperating with the port in said cylinder and located in said cylinder to permit of axial movement of said sleeve valve, the latter being provided with a split which extends the length of the sleeve at an angle. to the axis thereof to form inclined edges which contact under condilions of use and cooperate to efi'ect axial movement of said sleeve when the latter is expanded and contracted, means for moving said sleeve. valve within said cylinder, and

a piston movable in said sleeve valvei In-testirnony whereof; I have signed my name to this specification.

FREDERICK E. HORNE, JR. 

